Monday, February 16, 2009

Ever been Curious about America's 1st Comic and it's Creators?

This is the whole lowdown on America's 1st comic book and it's creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster via Wikipedia.

Action Comics 1 is a comic book that was published in April 1938 (cover-dated June) by National Allied Publications, a corporate predecessor of DC Comics. Featuring the first appearance of the Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster creation Superman, it is considered the first true superhero comic, and though today Action Comics is a monthly title devoted to Superman, it began, like many early comics, as an anthology.[1]

Action Comics was started by publisher Jack Liebowitz. The first issue had a print run of 200,000 copies, although sales of the series would soon approach 1,000,000 a month. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were paid $10 per page, for a total of $130 for their work on this issue. They effectively signed away millions in future rights and royalties payments.

 Starting in 1978 Siegel and Shuster were provided with a $20,000 a month annuity which was later raised to $30,000. Liebowitz would later say that selecting Superman to run in Action Comics #1 was "pure accident" based on deadline pressure. He also selected the "thrilling" cover, depicting Superman lifting a car over his head.[2] Christopher Knowles, author of Our Gods Wear Spandex: The Secret History of Comic Book Heroes, compared the cover to Hercules Clubs the Hydra by Antonio del Pollaiolo.[3]

image via Wikipedia

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